Campus IT brings toys to pediatric cancer patients

Clare La Torre (left), Curtis Kratt, and Cindy Sulad from Wayne State Campus IT deliver donations to Program Director, Ashley Leslie, at The Bottomless Toy Chest in Troy, Mich., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. The nonprofit organization brings toys and entertainment to hospitalized pediatric cancer patients.

Wayne State Campus IT and the Office for Teaching & Learning joined forces this holiday season to support The Bottomless Toy Chest, a local nonprofit which delivers fun and activities to hospitalized pediatric cancer patients. A group of volunteers from Computing & Information Technology (C&IT) distributed donation boxes across campus, and delivered three car-loads of contributions to the charity in Troy, Mich., just before the university winter break. In addition to physical gifts, the group raised over $800 in monetary donations to help support young cancer patients undergoing inpatient treatment.



C&IT Enterprise Project Director, Cindy Sulad, Director of Desktop Engineering, Curtis Kratt, and Lead Marketing Specialist, Clare La Torre, partnered to bring this volunteer effort to life. Community engagement is a priority for the organization, which chooses a different charitable cause every winter.

"This project was particularly rewarding," said Sulad. "We love to support local causes whenever we can, and members of our Campus IT family have directly benefited from this organization’s generosity, so we were thrilled to give back to a cause we have seen in action."

Toys and activities organized by age line the walls at The Bottomless Toy Chest in Troy, Mich., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019.

Along with community partners, C&IT also regularly works with university causes like The W Food Pantry, which the IT organization donated over 250 food items to in 2019.

The Bottomless Toy Chest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to delivering empowering toys, craft projects, and interactive activities to hospitalized pediatric oncology patients, according to their site. Learn more about The Bottomless Toy Chest at https://bottomlesstoychest.org/.

Computing & Information Technology is Wayne State University's central IT organization, in the Division of Academic Affairs. For tech support on campus, contact the C&IT Help Desk at 313-577-4357 or helpdesk@wayne.edu. Find FAQs at tech.wayne.edu/kb and follow us on Twitter @WayneStateCIT for instant updates.

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